This crap comes up every year and pisses me off more and more every year. The CBA that the players have extended every time it's come up has provisions in it to protect the teams. One of those provisions is to terminate contracts. There are many reasons listed for doing so. The CBA has provisions in it to protect the players. One of those provisions is free agency. It is up to the players agent to negotiate fare market value for their client to assure the clients services are paid fair market value. They even have this ability from day one as a rookie because they are not under contract. Free agency is a huge bonus for the players and a mixed bag for teams. A player that you have put countless man hours into scouting, drafting, coaching, establishing in your community can at any time leave your team for fair market value elsewhere leaving you with nothing for your investment.
The point is no player is "being screwed" by playing under a contract that isn't paying them fair market value for their services. Their agent brought them the deal and they signed it on the dotted line knowing full well the implications of the contract as enforced by the NFL and the CBA.
The signing bonus a player receives is guaranteed money the team has assured the player they will be paid regardless of performance or playing time lost to injury. In a lot of cases the signing bonus can account for 50% of the total contact value. This is the financial security set up in the CBA and in reference to the salary cap that really protects the players. When the player is a proven NFL player they can have their agent negotiate a higher percentage of their new contract as guaranteed money. Teams because of salary cap restrictions will need to use the signing bonus to keep the players contract low to accomodate the cap. Sometimes the team will even have to guarantee the salary portion of a players contract in one year, to have that players contract have less impact on the cap.
Because their is no provision in the current CBA for a players contract holdout, the team is entitled to levy a fine on the player for every day missed. ( which most teams never do )
The fact of the matter is that a holdout is a very selfish attempt by a player to circumvent the CBA, the rules of NFL employment, and the trust of the fans ( who pay their salary ) for immediate financial gain. It is truely up to the player to find proper representation that will work with the team to assure they get a contract that they feel is paying them for their services fairly.
